Poor Execution Dooms the "Last Great Hope" of the Fremont Suburbs
Written: Mar 16 '09 (Updated Mar 16 '09)
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Pros: * Ambiance and decor above average for suburban restaurant
Cons: * Poor execution
* Poor quality ingredients
The Bottom Line: At these prices, one expects higher quality fare. Frankly, its location in the suburbs doesn't excuse sub-par food at "City" prices.
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| smiles33's Full Review: Essanay Cafe |
Living in the suburbs requires one to make certain sacrifices. We give up our ability to walk most places since everything is so spread out. In addition, we usually have limited entertainment options (think movies, mini-golf, hanging out at coffee shops, or bowling). Most egregious, at least to me, is the near absence of charming, owner-operated restaurants in a landscape dominated by chain restaurants.
Since moving to the suburbs, we've focused on the mom-and-pop owned ethnic restaurants. For fancier white tablecloth experiences with gourmet food, we head to more urban/upscale areas. Thus, I was delighted to hear of a local restaurant featuring upscale decor and dining that is located only 10 minutes from my in-laws' home (where we could drop off our daughter). The local "mom's club" message board had featured a thread about local restaurants and Essanay Cafe was recommended.
Located in Fremont, California, Essanay boasts of "Wine Country cuisine." Wine country cuisine conjures up romantic visions of sipping a complex and flavorful glass of Napa Valley wine while enjoying equally delightful food outdoors on a patio on a lazy summer day or a warm spring day. Too bad our recent experience was anything but complex, flavorful or delightful. Unfortunately, even the weather conspired against us, as it was chilly, overcast, and rather depressing on the Saturday evening we visited.
About the Restaurant
Tucked in the historical downtown Niles district of Fremont, California, the Essanay Cafe is one of the few non-chain restaurants offering American food in the 148 square mile area known as the Tri-City area (which includes the three cities of Fremont, Union City, and Newark). Welcome to life in the suburbs.
Anyhow, Essanay Cafe is named after the Essanay Film Company, renowned for being the home of Charlie Chaplin's early movie career.
The menu sounds akin to what one might find in more urban/upscale areas like San Francisco, Palo Alto, and Berkeley. Prices are almost equivalent, but execution falls considerably flat. The website says that the executive chef has had 5 years of professional experience and it shows. Sigh.
About the Food
We viewed the menu on the website before going so we knew what we wanted and didn't veer even when told about the daily special (a surf-and-turf option). Perhaps that anticipation was our downfall, as we had such high expectations after reading the menu.
We started with 3 appetizers:
- Roasted Beets with Prosciutto, Manchego cheese, Blood Oranges, Walnut oil, and slivered almonds ($6)
- Crispy Duck Confit with Shaved fennel salad, blackberry Dijon gastrique ($9), and
- Cup of Crab Bisque with Roasted red peppers and rouille ($6)
For the main entree, my husband ordered the Slow Braised Short Ribs with Celery root purée, glazed Nantes carrots and horseradish jus ($23). I had the Butternut Squash Gnocchi with Bloomfield spinach, sun dried tomatoes, walnut pesto and sage brown butter ($18). He also had a glass of red wine.
While we waited for the food, we had some rather bland, possibly day-old french bread baguette slices with cold butter that had a generous sprinkling of black pepper. I would have expected a restaurant that boasts of its Wine Country cuisine to have better bread (preferably warm!) and olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
The first item to arrive was my roasted beet appetizer. We immediately started off on a bad note, as it tasted like canned beets--a single flat note whose only notable feature was the firmness of the bite. The other components of the dish failed to contribute much flavor, too. It pretty much fell flat. I will say that the presentation was nice, as the rectangular plate had three round silver dollar sized slices of beets topped with a thin shaving of manchego (my favorite sheep's milk cheese), a tiny segment of blood orange, and slivered almonds. The presentation is all I can say that's positive about that appetizer. I offered one of the three to my husband, who popped the entire thing in his mouth and blanched.
The Crispy Duck Confit was a nice surprise after the disappointing beet appetizer. We aren't experts on French cuisine by any means, so I will say that this somewhat overly salty dish might be exactly as salty as it's supposed to be. My husband rarely uses this much salt in any of his cooking, so it caught us both off-guard. I have had duck confit before, but can't recall if it was this salty. Nonetheless, this dish was the only highlight of the evening. The duck leg was tender, easily fell off the bone when using a simple bread knife, and was an adequate portion for us to share.
The cup of crab bisque was an indulgence because of the rave reviews by one of the moms, who said she would order it by the gallon if she could. When it came to the table, I thought it looked like a creamy tomato soup. Neither of us are sure fresh crab was used--the crab was shredded quite finely as if it had been canned (or maybe the soup was just over-stirred). Yet ironically, the soup seemed to be a bit unevenly blended, as the last few spoonfuls were noticeably creamier than the first few.
With two of three appetizers being significant disappointments, we were both nervous about the entrees. My husband's braised short ribs consisted of one large "clump" of stewed meat. It looked like it might have been an oxtail as opposed to a short rib. It also lacked the finishing "glazed" look I've seen on other braised short ribs. I think it was overcooked, as it looked like a nearly shapeless mass of meat. The flavor was fine, but it was not at all what we expected and a much lower quality of meat than a short rib normally implies. Plus, when I tried one of the carrots, I actually paused after a bite and asked him, "Is this undercooked?" It was entirely too firm/crunchy for my liking.
My Gnocchi was the worst part of the entire evening. The plate had about 8-10 lumps of dough, each one as firm and tasteless as day-old chewing gum left underneath a desk. I kept thinking to myself, "The next one MUST be better than this one," but alas, even though I managed to swallow all of them, none of them had the trademark texture and lightness of good gnocchi. Instead of being pillowy, these were heavy and firm, and coated with far too much butter. I literally pictured the chef forming small balls of dough, dropping them into a pot, and then forgetting about them, resulting in the over-boiled, dense lumps on my plate. Moreover, the accompanying spinach was too oily (too much butter!) and didn't balance well with the pesto and sundried tomatoes--it came out too strongly flavored and only highlighted the blandness of the gnocchi.
As for why we didn't complain or send the food back, well, we both actually talked about that option DURING the meal (albeit in hushed tones). We're not the kind of people to make a fuss and we didn't want to be seen as obnoxious in a very small restaurant. We also looked at the other diners around us--everyone was decades older (60s and 70s) and looked like they just came from one of the 3 local Wal-Marts (e.g., very casually dressed). I felt overdressed wearing a little black dress!
Anyhow, we figured that maybe we aren't the demographic the restaurant is catering to (that is, folks who frequent gourmet restaurants) and that if the restaurant has survived with this kind of fare going out of its kitchen, some people obviously like it.
About the Service and Decor
When we walked in, we noticed the small intimate nature of the restaurant and liked the decor. There's also a pretty stunning ceiling that looks like it might be either hammered tin or painted decorative plaster. There are a few small booths to one side, a few tables in the center, and soft soothing color scheme. The tables were set with tablecloths, fresh flowers, and a small candle. Wine glasses are set out on the tables as well, a rarity in the suburban restaurants we tend to see around here.
Service was fine. There was one waitress for about 14 people in the restaurant when we first arrived. Another one showed up as our appetizers were being served around 6:30 pm. Water with lemon slices was provided and refilled regularly. Our waitress cleared the plates fairly promptly and asked how everything was. We smiled pleasantly and replied good, as neither of us felt like criticizing the chef. I wonder even now whether I should post a condensed version of this review on YELP, which surprisingly has rave reviews.
Final Thoughts
Essanay Cafe had been billed as one of the only gourmet restaurants in this area. Like I said earlier, other moms had raved about it and I'm not sure if the moms just have very low expectations or the chef had a horrible night when we were there on a Saturday.
After we paid our check, we walked out to the car and reminded ourselves that if we're going to spend almost $100 on a meal, we'd rather go to a local Thai/Indian/Afghan/Korean/Chinese place and get enough food for 8 people or just drive the hour to a city with better gourmet options. If you're ever in the Fremont area, stick with the ethnic restaurants. You'll get much better quality food than what we were served here.
Special thanks to lyagushka for adding this so quickly to the database!
Recommended:
No
Kid Friendliness: No
Vegetarian Friendly: Yes
Notes, Tips or Menu Recommendations Overpriced and poorly executed, so don't bother going
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